Herbed-Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

You could probably say I'm a little obsessed with looking at food labels & ingredients..especially when it comes to salad dressings & marinades. Have you ever looked at the ingredient list of dressings in your fridge?  If I didn't have a background studying biochemistry, it would be pretty tough knowing what all of the listed ingredients were.  Also, it can get expensive to buy dressings. Making your own can be a cheaper alternative and great way to know exactly what ingredients are going into it (no biochemistry needed).  My favorite plus to homemade dressings: having an ability to control the amount of added sugars and sodium!
Here's the latest version of my balsamic dressing. A little sweet, tangy and spicy; it goes great over a bed of field greens with fresh berries, feta & walnuts.. Play around with the ingredients & make it your own.

Herbed-Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1 cup (8 oz) balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup (3 oz) extra virgin olive oil
• 1.5 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp brown mustard (or Dijon mustard)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped red onions (or shallots)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried Italian parsley
• dash of salt & pepper

Place all ingredients in a wide mouth jar or large measuring cup.  With an immersion blender, blend until you have a smooth consistency. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Try it over your favorite salad, or use as an Italian marinade in your favorite chicken or beef recipes! 

*Helpful Hint: If I have fresh herbs in my garden I prefer to using them instead; but since dried herbs are more potent then fresh it's important to know how to replace the amounts in recipes. When substituting fresh herbs for dried, a good rule of thumb is to use a ratio of 3:1 (fresh:dried). For example if you wanted to substitute fresh parsley for dried in this recipe; you would use 3 tsp (or1 Tbsp) fresh Italian parsley for the 1 tsp dried it calls for.